Shadow
by Jedi Kay-Kenobi
Summary: Every human has a shadow, but there is one peculiar human who has two. (Marked as complete, but may continue when other projects are done).
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, readers! I thought I'd give myself a go with a fanfic based on 'The Book Thief.' Oh, what a fantastic movie. I love it to pieces, and I'm in the process of reading the book. Yeah, the ending is spoilt for me because I saw the film first (I blame my friend :P) but I couldn't resist reading it afterwards! This has elements of both the book and the movie and is full of Rudy goodness, because he is just so adorable and impossible to not love! :)  
**

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****People have only a single shadow, a thick, black silhouette that tails them day and night. Its paints itself on the wall and stalks after its suitor, weaved to them.

But Liesel Meminger has two.

She doesn't know it, but it's there. He is there. Rudy Steiner. The boy spun out of shadows.

A few weeks ago he had rolled into death's arms with only a little fight, the little breath left in his lungs trying to push the words he had so desperately wanted to tell the book thief up his burning throat and past his chapped lips; words that were snatched away from him and words where he longed to see her reaction.

Before his untimely demise he had often wondered how she would look. Surprised? Ecstatic? He wouldn't have been bothered even if she had smacked his arm and called him a saukerl. It was a term of endearment that he had grown accustomed to in his life.

But no. Her face only conveyed disbelief as he slipped from her grasp, his lemon-coloured soul being carried away in death's cold arms.

Death hadn't been as scary as he'd imagined. He had half expected a tall, brooding figure, shrouded in black and grasping a scythe to greet him. The human perception had it entirely wrong. But, of course, he could never tell the living how death looked. They would discover that themselves one day.

He remembers the day he died. It plays on a loop in his head, and it always freezes on her grief stricken face, a hairs breadth away from his after giving him the kiss that he never felt. The kiss he spent years wanting and that he would now wait a life time for.

But it was Liesel's life, and he wanted her to live it at its fullest before he had that kiss.

Unbroken he stood before his own cold corpse, gazing down at her with soft blue eyes that would not moisten with tears. He desperately wanted to cry, scream her name and tell her that he loved her too.

But he was dead. And she couldn't hear or see him.

Death was too cruel, and she rose to her unsteady feet, only to collapse into the rubble seconds later. He launched himself forward to catch her, yet she fell straight through his hands that were nothing but air to her. It broke his heart to see her so fragile, the girl with a thousand words sticking inside her throat and choking her with sorrow.

The lemon-haired boy stood motionless, staring longingly at her, so badly hoping against hope that he could re-enter his body and somehow come back to life.

If only that were possible. If only death possessed the power to give life and not just take it away.

A man in uniform rushed over to retrieve her, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her as though she were glass, infinitely precious. He wished that it was he who was carrying her.

He wishes that he could hold her, kiss her.

Over the years he does. He kisses her glistening cheek after the birth of her children, ignoring the pang in his heart that tells him he wishes they were his children. One, the youngest of the three, a son, has her dangerous brown eyes and her husband's blonde hair, though he knows that deep down she wishes that it could just be a little brighter; the colour of lemons. Her eldest is the spitting image of him in his youth. He likes to run, and that doesn't just remind her of her sorrow, but also of the happiest moments of her life in Molching. She loves all of her children and her husband dearly.

He holds her when she weeps over Max's passing, kissing her tears away, although she can feel none of them. He is with him now, awaiting Liesel's arrival. They are not surprised when they meet, speaking as if they have known each other all along. Thanks to Liesel's words, it feels like they have.

At ninety she is on her deathbed, having lived a full and happy life. Her children, now all adults, stand around her. Rudy steps forwards and sits on the edge of the bed, slipping his hand beneath hers.

She has aged, wrinkles adorning her aged face and eyes, but the dangerous gleam still glistens in their deep depths. She is still the most beautiful thing he has ever seen. And he has never stopped loving her.

Her breath hitches, eyes turning directly to him. He was warned about this. Despite being unable to see him, Liesel senses that he is there, just like he sensed death was when his time came, having stood just next to her crouched form. She doesn't speak, only gazes at him with glistening eyes. She is happy.

Her final breath is drawn, and she passes on with a gentle smile on her face.

He stands in the immaculate Heaven Street, his soccer ball resting in front of his feet and a grin on his face. His lemon hair whips across his eyes, but he is uncaring of anything else. Not the perfect and untouched street that he lived his entire life in. Not the prickling in his eyes as the loose strands of his hair whip at them. None of that matters when the book thief is standing just at the other end of the street, grinning also.

She is young again, her 'just-enough-to-pass-for-German' blonde hair swaying over her shoulders, cheeks rosy pink. She is wearing her burgundy coat and black dress.

He kicks the soccer ball aside and dashes forwards. They meet in the middle of the street, just outside his house, standing face to face, breathing heavily.

"How about a kiss, Saumensch?" he asks wickedly, grinning like an idiot, crystal blue eyes sparkling with cheer.

The dangerous gleam in her brown eyes ignites once more, and she utters one word: "Saukerl."

She grabs his jacket collar and pulls him to her, rising to her tiptoes. Their teeth collide in thin air. 

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**I enjoyed writing this. What do you think? Hopefully it wasn't dreadful.**


	2. Was It Real?

**Hi, everyone, I'm back! This was among the first of my stories to return to - well it is on this site anyway - after my sudden burst of inspiration. If you have been on my profile in the past few months and seen my author's note then you'll know that I had a busy time studying and sitting my final A-Level exams. That's all over now, and with The Book Thief coming out on DVD very soon in the UK and my return to the novel itself I was just itching to write. Your reviews as well, for those of you who were asking me to continue, I give you an extension of my oneshot. I hope you all enjoy! :)**

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Rudolph – Rudy – Steiner stands on the perfect purgatory of Himmel Street. His lemon hair does not wisp in front of his eyes from the cool breeze, and that's because there is none. Why would he need it when he's dead? Why would he need anything? Anything he had experienced from life now, in this place, would be fake – a mere delusion.

And that was why the forever fourteen-year-old boy was standing alone on the street outside of his house now, contemplating.

He thinks back to a time that he both cherishes and loathes – his death. The day he was torn from this world by a bombing on his home. It's the moment when Liesel admitted that she loved him.

_"Come on Jesse Owens! Don't you know I love you!?"_

The more he repeats those words in his head, the more he begins to question the truth behind them; that is to say if there is any.

It's these moments when he wonders whether or not Liesel's words were just a result of her despair or not.

In the moment where he stood lifelessly before her and his corpse he had believed it unconditionally, holding on to that statement with every fibre of his being, as though it could bring him back.

He inhales deeply, sniffling as he remembers that he doesn't need to breathe and the lack of oxygen. Something stirs within him; was it… anger? The glowing ball in his chest pulses twice. It is anger. He forcefully rubs his arm underneath his nose, bullying himself on the fact that he can't cry.

He examines the moment again, like a police detective. He is an intelligent boy for his age, and although he had reached the peak of his physical fitness in his life, he never wanted to apply that intellect to anything else but athletics.

His mind paints an image of Liesel's devastated expression with her face hovering over his lifeless own, her nearly perfect German blonde hair just brushing his jaw and shoulders.

Her young, round face is the absolute picture of anguish and despair. Fat, crystal tears roll down her ash and dust covered cheeks, painting tracks along their way. It hurts him every time he looks back on this memory, but his curiosity always defeats him whenever he fights against his urge to discover the validity of her proclamation.

_"__Rudy, wake up! Rudy, kiss me!"_

It hurts.

_"__Come on Jesse Owens!"_

So much.

He grits his teeth in defiance. He _will _find out whether she truly meant her words.

He desperately clings to the hope that she does truly love him.

But he doesn't know what he'll do if he finds that it was the opposite.

She leans forward for what must be the one millionth time and kisses him, sweet and true on his bomb dusted lips. She holds it for a long moment and then peels herself from him. Her lips are plump and red and her index finger draws over his mouth for a long second before her face once again twists in anguish and she kisses him, her mouth smacking inaccurately against his.

_"__Come on, Jesse Owens!"_

"Don't you know I love you!?"

"Come on, Jesse Owens!"

"Rudy, wake up! Rudy, kiss me!"

The words do not falter once. They are strong and true, broken by the broken sobs wrecking through her body and her broken soul that had lost yet another person she cared about, but they still ring in his head. They have meaning, and she is passionate and true.

His eyes peel open, a small smile stretching at the corners of his pink and clear lips. Laughter lines form just beneath his crystal blue eyes.

His ears pick up the sound of approaching footsteps. He is surprised he can hear them, for they are so soft. They patter against the cobblestone road. He turns around to face the girl approaching him, her dangerous brown eyes gleaming excitedly, a huge grin plastered over her face.

"There you are, _Saukerl," _Liesel calls, a touch of that bite to her tone as she quickens her pace and stands in front of him, her head tilted back. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

With a smirk, he folds his arms over his chest and looks down at her with complete adoration. If his heart were still beating it would be at the rate of a machine gun firing. And yet, when he's around her he does swear that he feels a light flutter in his stomach.

And it is that which makes him want to smack himself in the face for ever considering the possibility that her words weren't –no - aren't, true.

If he can still feel this way, even in death, then there is no reason to doubt her love as there is to doubt her standing right in front of him, so close that their fingers only just brush.

"What's it to you, _Saumensch? _I just needed to spend some time on my own, don't you get that?"

She doesn't back away. She doesn't even blink. Because she knows that this is just another way of him saying hello. Instead she smiles at him, and it is a smile that he will go on forever seeing.

She moves and her arms wrap around him, embracing and loving. Her face presses into his chest whilst he nuzzles his own affectionately in her golden hair.

The thought of never letting go invades his thoughts, and thanks to the eternity they've been granted neither of them will ever have to let go again.

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**So there we have it; a bit sad, but with a happy ending. Now the offer I'm about to make you: As I previously stated before in the note at the top some of you wanted an extension of this. Well I'm here to set up a vote for you all. It's simply - do you want to see Liesel and Rudy's afterlife continued and in more depth, or are you happy with these two separate oneshots? Let me know in your review. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this. :)**


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